Advance File PhotoMcMAHON: "I'm trying to be thoughtful on every issue, I'm not down here fighting ideological battles."STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Rep. Michael McMahon's congressional voting record places him smack dab in the middle of the liberal-to-conservative political spectrum in Washington, according to a national magazine that covers Congress.

McMahon said the ranking puts a lie to the criticism leveled at him by GOP opponents Michael Grimm and Michael Allegretti that he has been merely a foot soldier and sure vote for liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

"It shows that I cast my votes in a pragmatic, deliberate way that reflects the common-sense values of the people back home," said McMahon (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn), who was first elected in 2008 and is running for re-election this November.

"I'm trying to be thoughtful on every issue, I'm not down here fighting ideological battles," said McMahon, who angered conservatives when he voted in favor of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, but disappointed liberals when he voted against health care reform.

In its annual "Vote Ratings" issue, which has just been released, National Journal magazine said McMahon and upstate Democratic Rep. Michael Acuri are "at the dead center of the House" when it comes to how they vote.

Using a complicated formula, the magazine assigns values to around 100 votes by all members of the House and Senate from the previous session, covering social issues, foreign affairs and economic concerns, and then comes up with a total score.

Because of its non-partisan reputation, the National Journal rankings are closely followed by political insiders both inside and outside the Beltway.

The magazine found overall that most lawmakers voted according to their ideological beliefs, conservative or liberal, which has contributed to legislative gridlock.

Overall, McMahon cast more "liberal" votes than 50.2 percent of his colleagues in 2009, but his "conservative" voting record was better than 49.8 percent of his fellow House members.

Taken together, that puts McMahon at number 217 among the 435 members of the House.

Which may not be a bad place to be considering McMahon's district went for John McCain in 2008 and for George Bush in 2004 and 2000.

McMahon said that most of his constituents are "centrist" and share former fusion Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's view that "there's not a Republican or Democratic way to pick up the trash."

"People want government to be responsive, and to provide for their needs in a pragmatic fashion," he said.

McMahon, for example, voted in favor of cap-and-trade energy legislation, which is anathema to conservatives. McMahon said he believed the legislation would help America break its dependence on foreign oil.

But he voted against taxing AIG bonuses and other measures that he said would hurt the financial services industry, which employs an estimated 80,000 of his constituents.

McMahon said his down-the-middle approach doesn't make him a "fence-sitter."

"It's just the opposite," he said. "This is a rating of my votes, not my views."

While McMahon's votes have sometimes put him at odds with House leadership, National Journal says that in an effort to keep swing-district members safe, "Democratic leaders try not to press them too hard to act counter to local interests while still corralling sufficient votes to pass legislation."

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and among those who recruited McMahon in 2008, told the magazine, "If members feel that something will put them in jeopardy with their constituents, it's not my job to substitute for their judgment."

McMahon told the National Journal, "Some Democrats tell me that I
should vote for the greater good of the party. I tell them that I vote
for my district and its interests."---twitter.com/siadvance